Axle skelp



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

L. D. HILL. AXLE SKELP.

No. 470,787. Patented Mar. 15, 1892.

Win wow, mmtoz W floyww UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

LEROY D. HILL, OF WVILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE SHELDON AXLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AXLE-SKELP'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 470,787, dated March 15, 1892. Application filed Pebrna'ry 2, 1892- Serial No, 420,031. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEROY D. HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilkes- Barr, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Axle-Skelps, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore it has been common to manufacture axle bars or blanks from bars of metal, either round or square 01' other suitable shape in cross-section, which have been operated upon by hand or rolls, so as to convert each bar into an axle-blank of the desired shape, the collars being formed after the rough shaping of the bar or blank. This method, 'while it has many advantages, especially when rolls are used for operating upon the bars, is attended with disadvantages resulting from the handling of the separate pieces of metal, from the necessity of heating each bar separately, from liability to irregular action upon the different bars, so that the blanks are not of the same shape, and is expensive in consequence of the slowness of the process. In order to overcome these objections I form a skelp by rolling of such a shape that when cut into sections at the proper points each section Will constitute a complete blank ready to be subjected to the action of the upsetting-dies employed in forming the collars. To this end it is necessary that each section of the continuous skelp should be shaped to correspond to different portions of the axle bar or blank. Thus in each section there is a central portion which must correspond to the bed of the blank, and in the case of fan-tailed blanks this portion will be spread and thinner at the center than at the ends. Then the end portions should be shaped or approximately shaped to correspond to the forms of the journals upon the blank. Then there should be intermediate portions adapted to be upset to form the collars and to form the square shoulders or faces which are at the inside of the collars when such shoulders are needed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates myimproved skelp asshapedto form a series of blanks for the manufacture of fantailed axles. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view representing one of the sections'of the said skelp.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View illustrating another form of skelp in which the journal portions are more perfectly formed than in the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. dis aperspective view, enlarged, of one of the sections of the skelp, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation showing the rolls of the mill for rolling the skelp, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 illustrates an axle as formed from the skelp, Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a perspective View showing a section of the skelprolled to form a half-hollow axle. Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8 8, Fig. 7.

In Fig. 1, (t represents the sections of the skelp or bar A, each section being formed to constitute the bed portion 1 of afan-tail axle, and the terminal end portions 2, from which the journals are made.

In the construction shown in Fig.1 the portions 2 are square, and it is necessary by subsequent operations to round down and taper the end portions of these square parts.

In the perspective views, Fig. 3, the skelp A is rolled, so that each section a constitutes a blank of the approximate form of the axle to be made, when the skelp is divided on the line a: to form the blank; but the portions 2 for a part of their length are rounded, so there is a rounded portion 4, Fig. 4, anda rectangular portion 3 at the end of each body portion 1. WVhen, therefore, the blank cut from the skelp a, Fig. 3, is subjected to the action of the usual upsetting-dies, the portions 4 are tapered to form the axles, while the portions 3 are upset for a portion of their length to form the collars 5, leaving the inner ends of each portion 3 in the form of a square or rectangular section at the inside of each collar adapted to receive the ordinary braces or other attachments.

In rolling-skelps of the character described I make use of rolls 8 9, Fig. 5, properly shaped, as shown, each roll' having agroove so shaped that at each revolution of the rolls the bar as it passes between them is shaped to form two sections adapted to be cut off and used for axle-blanks. The bars from which the skelps are formed are of course of such a length that quite a number of sections will be in each bar, and after rolling each bar is divided upon the transverse line a into blanks D, Figs. 2 or 3 or 4, of such a shape that they can be formed into axle-blanks by upsetting and forming the collar.

\Vhile I have illustrated the skelps and the 5 rolls as shaped for making fan-tailed axleblanks, it will be evident that the shapes will depend upon the character of the axles to be finally formed.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7 and in the cross-section, Fig. 8, the blank is spread and grooved so as to form ahalf-hollow blank. This can be done by using rolls of the proper shape.

\Vithout limiting myself to the precise construction of skelps shown or to any special mode of forming the same, I claim 

